Thursday, January 25, 2007

The 35 countries of India..

It was only during my college days, that i got a chance to explore the real world. Until then my world was
confined to a small colony where i live. I got to meet a large number of people bearing different opinions with great differences.
Every thing was at a higher magnitude than i had ever witnessed. At my work place i met a person who eventually
become a very good friend of mine. He is a big time devotee of the language KANNADA. For him Kannada is
more than a language. He feels its a way Kannadiggas live. This true lover of Kannada, requites it by calling it his mother.
I dint know a language could be this adorable to the people. Ironically, this person who respects a language so much,
hates all other languages (of INDIA ??). As i have known him, he does a good analysis of things before he comments or makes a
decision about anything. I am wondering "what could be the reason??". What makes him think this way ?

"Unity in Diversity.. Secularity.. Sovereignty..Culture with high degree of syncretism.. A Land of all seasons"
these are some of the adjectives which decorate our INDIA. Wow, what a country is this? One country with so
many languages and culture. You can find people of all variates here.. from rich to poor.. tall to short..
black to white.. fat to thin.. ugly to beautiful.. what a spectrum of humankind on one piece of land? Thats
INDIA for you (really??). This is true at the skin level, but as you start moving a bit closer towards the contour
of those thin lines separating people in the name of states.. the voices become eminent.. you would hear anguish
voices bringing disgrace to the nation's decorum. Yes, its the voices of those people fighting in the name of languages..
Sometimes our dear politicians trigger such conflicts, in an attempt to rediscover the bad formula "Divide and Rule".
People faithfully make it a grand success by not listening to what their conscience is struggling to tell them.
What happened to those precious traits derived from a rich culture that your country gave you? Did your culture preach you to
disrespect other cultures ? Did your language say its the only supreme language on earth ?
Great!! How did you manage to stifle your common sense ?? Language is a mere tool which human beings invented to
communicate with each other. Its a medium to represent your thoughts and ideas in the form of writing or speech.
Why have a race of language and its evolution ? You speak any language that you wish to.. let your friend do which ever he prefers to..
Language lovers try to show you a strong illusive bonding of language to the land where it was born. Which stop people
from using an INDIAN language in INDIA. A Kannadiga is most likely to have the wrath of a Tamilian in Tamil Nadu for speaking in
Kannada and the vice versa is equally true. Kannadiga complaints of domination by Tamil speakers in karnataka
and a Tamil speaker complaints of no water in the state because the kannadigas refused to give. At times this stupid quarrel gets
so violent that it costs many innocent lives. Is Language really thicker than blood ?
How could some one interleave language with lack of water ? Did we forget that language has nothing to do with lack of water?
How many of us accept Hindi as our national language. I have a friend who still doesn't agree to it even after our debate pushed
me to show him the verses of INDIAN CONSTITUTION. Is this a land of 28 states and 7 union territories or 35 countries ?

Its a shame to know that a Language can be a potential source of conflict for the people. There are hundreds of genuine
problems to be addressed, if at all we want to really work for the progress of our country and show some gratitude.
I don't know how much we mean when we say "India is a secular country, rich in culture. We show unity in diversity."
Enough of all these show-off words. Do we really understand the words Secularity, Sovereignty...Culture etc.

We shouldn't forget that Respecting each other is more important than respecting our own inventions.
Its good to remind ourselves that there is just one SUN and one EARTH... there is just one specie called HUMAN BEINGS
who can understand all this!!!

Thursday, January 4, 2007

Preaches from the virtual world !!!

...the Guy is chasing me with a brandish sword. I am running with all the energy i have. I am at a speed no less than any athlete running on an Olympic track. I have no clue why is he chasing me. He is swinging the sword.. trying to slaughter me from the back.. i am missing it by few centimeters. I didn't know where am i heading, am just running like that
innocent beggar chased by the stray dogs near my house.. I imagine the whole scene would look like a segment straight out of a movie to the onlookers. I was looking back frequently to make sure that he is not very close to me. But why am i running,
when i don't know if i can escape him? He looks strong enough to chase and get me at some point. The hiss sound made by the sword resonates in my ears, whispering to me "You are finished!!!". Thinking so, should i stop running now and give up? It
will cost my Life. Hundreds of thoughts running on my mind.. i see a collage of umpteen small pictures and film strips running on my mind. I have no time to appreciate them at the moment.

I turned back this time to take a proper look at the Guy's face.. Do i know him ? No, I don't think I have ever met him before. "Who is he?" a question chasing me faster than the guy himself!! "Dhup".. i bruised my foot to the median, that's when i realized i was crossing a main road. I fell on to the median, as if i was falling on my bed after a hard day's work. My face and chest felt the ground.. my head banged to the tree on the median. Its for sure that i would be torn in to pieces by that reckless inhuman. Now its my choice to either turn back and take a look at my own assassination or keep my eyes shut
and say my last prayers. I collected some courage and decided to turn back and take a look at that mercy less wild animal for one last time. There is a cruel smile on his face. Both of us are tired..breathing very hard. He stepped on to my chest with his left leg. There he takes a deep breath, stiffened his fist and lift the sword as high as possible... The sword is now paving through the air between his angry face and my chest..

TiK.. Teek.. Tik.. Teek.. Tik.. Teek !!!! I Stopped the alarm clock besides me... am sitting frozen on my bed, totally blank. My heart is beating faster than usual.. I am hearing voices within me.. One eminent one - "Oops was that a dream ??" That's when my conscious took over and I realized that it was a deadly dream. For a moment i felt that
"Alarm Clock" saved me from some big tragic experience. For the first time i was looking at that "Alarm Clock" with some respect, which would otherwise receive an angry bang on the snooze button. Thirty past six... its getting late for my morning jog, my friends would be waiting for me as usual. Picture of that dreadful ripper is still on my mind, stopping me from my daily chores. For a moment i tried to rehash that virtual incident in thoughts and analyse it for no reason. I am hopping to get rid of it from my memory after that. Well, i was being chased by someone for some reason and i was running to save my
life. But finally could not escape. If i knew that its not easy to escape from him then, why undergo the pain of fear. I should have simply faced him the moment he started chasing me or give up, rather than letting the fear run through me. I am sure that's more painful than the death itself. Honestly speaking, even now if i am chased by someone, i would try to run away from him. Looks like this virtual incident has some thing to teach me.

Let me call the guy chasing me "a big problem" in my life, i have one of the three things to do :

- run away from the problem, just as i did from the ripper.
- get succumbed to it in the very beginning !!
- stand there and face it with courage.

Definitely, running away from the problem will take me no where but just delay the process of getting succumbed to it!! Getting succumbed to a problem is my disability and i cannot help it, but there is no chance of winning here. Standing firmly and facing a problem is the only way to have a chance to win. ( Heroic approach ?? ;-) )
Of course, to win it takes a lot of efforts and many more things but having a chance to win is a prerequisite right ??